Violence against women is a pressing public health issue world-wide that has devastating physical and emotional consequences for women, children and families. Women are frequently targets of both physical and sexual assault by their intimate partners. In the United States alone, domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44, more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. (Violence Against Women, A Majority Staff Report,” Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 102nd Congress, October 1992, p.3.) About one in four women are physically or sexually abused at some point in their life, and domestic violence now leads as one of the top three causes of homelessness in America (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000, U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005).
Research indicates that often victims require access to comprehensive and holistic programs to break the cycle of violence. Unlike many parts of the world-- in the United States, domestic violence programs and services have been available to assist abused women to build long term safety and security for themselves and their children for more than three decades. Recognizing that capturing lessons learned from service provision is key for any programs long-term success, domestic violence advocates have sought to not only to provide services but also to capture, track, analyze, and disseminate the information gleaned from service provision to local, regional, national, and even international audiences. Nichelle Mitchem, long-time advocate for battered women and their children was referred to in a Philadelphia Bar Association news release.
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